Wrench having a pentagonal socket with threaded adjustment means



'May 9,1967 H. F. GEIER. JR 3,318,176

WRENCH HAVING A PENTAGONAL SOCKET WITH THREADED ADJUSTMENT MEANS Filed OOL. 2l, 1965 BY w United States Patent G 3,318,176 WRENCH HAVING A PENTAGONAL SOCKET WITH THREADED ADJUSTMENT MEANS Herbert F. Geier, Jr., 17 Aberdeen Place, Fair Lawn. Nd. 674% Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 500,149 Claims. (Cl. 81-175) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in wrenches and, more particularly, to improvements in wrenches suitable for use on fire hydrants.

As is well known, it now is common practice to build permanent piping systems to distribute water throughout communnities for use in firefighting. Such distribution systems have periodic taps that terminate in hydrants or plugs, which are valved connections to which fire hoses may be attached for selectively admitting water thereto. The valve by which the water is turned on and off is operated by turning a shaft which ends in a nut projecting through the top of the plug. The design of such nuts has not been standardized, but instead is left to the discretion of the individual plug manufacturer. Therefore, such nuts commonly are of a wide variety of cross-sectional shapes, including squares and pentagons. Furthermore, a wide variety of dimensional variations, even for a given shape, are now in use. For example, common sizes for square shaped nuts are l, and 1 while common sizes for pentagonal nuts are 1", 1%,", 1 l and 1 Similarly, the caps which are used to cover and protect the threaded water outlets on each plug to which the threaded hose connectors are engaged as a means for connecting hose to the plug have a nut integrated into their structure for engagement by a wrench whereby the cap may be turned for purposes of removal or replacement. Like the valve nuts which have been described heretofore, these cap nuts may be in any of a wide variety of sizes and/ or shapes, including those hereinbefore listed. It should be clearly understood that, as used in this patent application, the word nuts(s) when used in context with fire hydrants, refers either to valve nuts or to cap nuts.

Size and/ or dimensional variations may exist from one plug to another within a given community, and it is quite common for a given community to have plugs with different sized and/or shaped nuts from those in other communities, particularly those adjacent to it. This situation 7 can lead to great difficulty since fire companies are not restricted territorially in where their services might be needed, either to a single precinct within their home com munity, or even to their home community itself. This condition has necessitated that each firetruck carry a great many wrenches in order to accommodate a wide variety of nut sizes in each common shape.

Attempts have been made to ease the situation by use of wrenches merely having several nut sockets in them, each for a different size or shape of nut, or by the use of wrenches which are adjustable to accommodate a limited range of sizes of nuts of a single shape. But until the advent of the invention herein disclosed, there has not been available a single universal wrench suitable for use with plug nuts of sereval shapes in an infinite variety of dimensions. In addition, even those which are adjustable for a limited number of sizes for a single shape have not been widely used because the adjusting means was such that a given setting would not remain unaltered when subjected to the rigors of ordinary use.

The present invention discloses a means whereby selective adjustments may be made which will not vary with normal use of the wrench. Furthermore, no plug wrench heretofore used has had a handle which is substantially other than a straight bar, which meant the operator must ice constantly change his position and/or pass the wrench from hand to hand as he uses the wrench to turn the plug nut, and this significantly restricts the speed with which he can turn the water on or off. However, the present invention discloses a handle device whereby the operator may cause the plug nut to revolve rapidly without even having to pass the wrench handle from hand to hand.

It is an object of this invention to provide a wrench which is simple in construction, strong, durable, efficient, reliable, compact, and cheap to manufacture.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a wrench which is suitable for use with a variety of shapes of objects to be grasped.

Another object of this invention is to provide a wrench which is suitable for use in grasping objects of a wide variety of dimensions.

Still another object of this invetition is to provide a means whereby objects of a wide variety of shapes and/ or sizes may be grasped and turned rapidly.

These and other objects which will be apparent to those skilled in the cognizant arts may be achieved through the use of the present invention, the features of which may be understood from the following discussion and the drawings referred to therein, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the embodiment of this invention which is discussed herein,

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the embodiment of this invention which is shown in FIGURE 1,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the embodiment of this invention which is shown in FIGURE 1,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the socket portion of the embodiment of this invention which is shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 3 engaging a square plug nut, and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the socket portion of the embodiment of this invention which is shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 engaging a pentagonal plug nut.

Referring first to FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, depicted therein is one embodiment of this invention which is particularly useful as a wrench for tire plug nuts. It includes a shank 2 which may be made from any suitable material having in mind the intended use, such as steel, malleable iron, fiberglass, wood, or the like, and may be of any suitable shape or dimension, such as rectangular, round, or square bar stock, or other shape in suitable size to provide the strength and durability required by the use for which the wrench is intended. I have found that a Wench having a shank portion 11' long by 1 wide by A" thick made from cold rolled steel is suitable for ordinary use as a fire plug wrench. It should be also be noted that although I have illustrated a shaft having a fixed length, it might also be useful to use a shaft which will telescope or otherwise be extensible in order to increase the mechanical advantage of the wrench, making it more effective when objects which are stuck or are very tight are to be turned.

At one end of the shank 2 of the embodiment shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 3 is affixed a handle 4 comprising a sleeve portion 6 which is rotatably afiixed to a bolt 8 by means of bearings 10, 12; the bolt 8 being rigidly afiixed to the end of the shank 2 as, for example, engaging the threaded portion of the bolt 8 into a threaded hole 14 in the shank 2. Optionally, the threads of the bolt 8 may pass completely through the shaft 2 and be secured thereto by affixing a nut (not shown) to the end of the bolt 8. The components of the handle 4 may advantageously be made from steel, although the sleeve portion 6 might also be made from other material such as wood.

At the opposite end of the shank 2 from the handle 4 is a socket portion 20, having two side members 22 and an end member 24. The socket portion 20 is integral with the shank 2, and may be made so by forming it from the same piece of material as the shank, or by welding it thereto if both it and the shank are made from metal, or otherwise afiixing it thereto by riveting or other well known connecting means. Each side member 22 is angular in shape, and is so oriented with respect to the other side member, to the end member, and to the shank 2 that the intersection of the inside surfaces of the side members 22 and the end member 24 with an imaginary plane lying along the axis of the shank 2 will form five connected sides of a pentagon. That portion of each side member 22 which is next adjacent to the shank 2 has notches therein about half away along its length and facing toward the center of the socket formed by the side members 22 and the end member 24. The function of these notches will be apparent from the explanation which follows.

The end member 24 of the socket portion consists of a piece v25 in which is a threaded aperture 26, the threads of which are engaged with those of an adjustment bolt 28 which has a knurled knob 30 or other handle means, such as a short rod, on the outermost end thereof. The knob 30 or its functional equivalent provides a ready means whereby the bolt 28 may be rotated, whereby the threaded engagement of the bolt 28 in the aperture 26, according to the direction in which the bolt is rotated, causes the bolt to be displaced toward or away from the angle of the pentagonal socket which is directly opposite; that is, the angle formed by the juncture of the side members 22 with each other.

FIGURES 4 and 5 illustrate how this adjustment bolt 25 may be used to accommodate a wide variety of shapes and/or sizes of objects. In FIGURE 4, a square plug nut 32 is illustrated as being seated in the notches in the side members 22 and being held in such seating by the adjustment bolt 28 which has been turned in the direction of rotation whereby it is caused to move toward the opposite angle to an extent which will prevent the nut 32 from disengaging from the notches. It will be apparent that variations in the dimensions of the engaged quadrilateral object may be accommodated by the depth of the notches in the side members 22 for one dimension, and by adjusting the bolt 28 for the other dimension, and therefore that quadrilateral objects (squares or rectangles) in a wide variety of dimensions may be accommodated.

FIGURE 5 illustrates how this same embodiment of this invention may be used to accommodate objects having shapes other than quadrilaterals as well. Depicted in FIGURE 5 is a plug nut 34 which is pentagonal in cross section. One apex of the nut 34 is seated in the angle formed by the juncture of portions of the side members 22. The two sides of the pentagonal nut 34 which form this apex lie more or less in engagement with the inside of the side members 22. The bolt 28 has been so adjusted that it will be brought to bear on at least a portion of the opposite side of nut 34 so then as the wrench is turned, at least a portion of the side members 22 will be caused to engage the sides of the nut 34 adjacent thereto, whereby rotary motion will be imparted to the nut. Pentagonal objects of different dimensions may also be accommodated in the same device merely by eifecting as appropriate adjustment in the bolt 28. Similarly, triangular objects might also be engaged. Thus it will be apparent that the embodiment herein depicted may be adjusted to accommodate objects of a wide variety of shapes and/ or dimen- The embodiment which has been discussed herein is particularly suitable for use in the manipulation of fire plug nuts. In operation, the adjustment bolt 28 is set to accommodate the shape and dimensions of the object to be turned, the operator grasps the handle in his hand, and he then merely moves the handles in a cranking motion, causing the wrench to revolve and the grasped object therefore to rotate.

It is to be understood that the embodiment which has been described herein, and the words and descriptions which have been used are by way of illustration but not of limitation, and it will be apparent that the inventive principles which have been set forth herein may be practiced in a wide variety of embodiments and for a number of useful purposes by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A wrench comprising a shank,

socket means integral with one end of said shank,

and handle means positioned at the other end of said shank,

said socket means comprising an enclosure which is substantially pentagonal in shape and formed from side members and an end member, said side members converging with each other to form one angle of said enclosure positioned adjacent to said one end of said shank, said end member forming the side of said enclosure opposite said angle and having an insert therein which is extensible into said enclosure at selectively varying distances from said angle.

2. The device described in claim 1 wherein the portions of said side members next adjacent to said angle each have notches therein facing said enclosure.

3. The device described in claim 2 wherein said notches are positioned substantially halfway along said sides of said enclosure next adjacent to said angle.

4. The device described in claim 1 wherein said insert in said end member is a threaded bolt having a grasping means integral with the end thereof furthest away from said enclosure.

5. A wrench comprising an elongated shank portion which is made from metal and is quadrilateral in cross-section,

one end of said shank being bifurcated into angular members which diverge from each other outward from opposite sides of said shank at the end thereof and then converge toward each other and terminate in a common cylindrical end portion having a threaded aperture wherethrough which is axially aligned toward said point of divergence of said angular members from each other at said shank end, each of said diverging portions of said angular members having a notch therein substantially halfway along its length and facing toward said aperture,

a bolt positioned within said aperture in threaded engagement therewith, said bolt having a grasping means on the outermost end thereof,

and a handle means afiixed to the end of said shank opposite said bifurcation, said handle means comprising a handle bolt threadedly aflixed to said shank substantially at the end thereof at right angles to the long axis of said shank and perpendicular to the top surface of said shank, and grasping means rotatably afiixed to said bolt.

References Cited by the Examiner FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MILTON s. MEI-IR, Examiner. 

1. A WRENCH COMPRISING A SHANK, SOCKET MEANS INTEGRAL WITH ONE END OF SAID SHANK, AND HANDLE MEANS POSITIONED AT THE OTHER OF SAID SHANK, SAID SOCKET MEANS COMPRISING AN ENCLOSURE WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY PENTAGONAL IN SHAPE AND FORMED FROM SIDE MEMBERS AND AN END MEMBER, SAID SIDE MEMBERS CONVERGING WITH EACH OTHER TO FORM ONE ANGLE OF SAID ENCLOSURE POSITIONED ADJACENT TO SAID ONE END OF SAID SHANK, SAID END MEMBER FORMING THE SIDE OF SAID ENCLOSURE OPPOSITE SAID ANGLE AND HAVING AN INSERT THEREIN WHICH IS EXTENSIBLE INTO SAID ENCLOSURE AT SELECTIVELY VARYING DISTANCES FROM SAID ANGLE. 